Drill steel centralizer



Aug. 29, 1944. J. A. HOPE 2,357,001.

DRILL STEEL IENTRALI ZER Filed Nov. 10, 1941' INVENTOR JOHN A. HOP:

BY t 3 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 29, 1944 2,357,001

DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER John A. Hope, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor, by mesneassignments, to The Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company, Cleveland, Ohio,a. corporation of Ohio Application November 10, 1941, Serial No. 418,441

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in drill steel centralizers.Where rock drills are caused to drill holes downward) relatively longdrill steels are often employed. Consequently when a carried twoparallel angle irons l6 which are of approximately th same length as theboom. These angle irons carry the drilling motor from which depends thedrill steel l8. The

hole is being Started particularly it is essary centralizer is mountedupon these angle irons to provide Some form of guide for the owe nd atthe lower ends thereof. It consists primarily of the steel, as otherwiseit might be deflected of two bent or curved arms 20 and 2| which at OutO line rat e ea y W he probable result their anchored ends have integraltubular posts that the steel would be broken inasmuch as the 22extending at right angles to the arms proper. upper d s mounted i t e drl W ic is rig y These tubular posts receive hinge pins 23 which carriedupon a supporting framework. These at their lower ends are journaledwithin blind auxiliary ing'means have come to be known bearings 24forming an integral part of laterally as drill steel centralizers.projecting ears 25 that are perforated to receive n f j s f the pr sentnven ion is bolts 26 which extend through suitably located the provisionof a centralizer of the character apertures in the angle irons IS. Theupper ends stated which shall be of simple construction and of the pins23 project beyond the hollow posts 22 y e fi in action d Whichfurthermore and extend into brackets 21 which are secured shall be s p lf r pi manipulationin to the angle irons by means of bolts 28. AroundOrder that the dr l Steel maybe q y e e each of the hollow posts 22below its arm or in the centralizer or as quickly freed therefrom. 202|, as the case may be, there is a coil spring 29 Other objects. andfeatures of novelty will apwhich bears at one end against the angle ironI6 p r as I pr d w h the d p n f that and at th other end has a hookextremity which embodi ent 0 e invention Which, the presses against theinner side of the arm 20 or poses of the present application, I ve uS-2|, tending to throw the arm to its outermost potrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which: sition i d t i Fi '7 st means may be g.1 is a side elevational view of a Wheeled provided to limit the amountof this outward Carriage With drill parts mounted thereon ShOW- swing,and in the present instance such means in an application f my inventiontakes the form of arm extensions 3|] which are Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryelevational view of the shaped t Contact the rearwardl extendingcentralizer and its mounting with the central- 30 flanges of th angleirons I6, 1261' arms C osed 0 i operative position- Near the free end ofeach of the arms 20 and 3 is a horizontal sectional w ta su 2| there isformed a substantially semi-cylindri- Stant y 0 t e l e o F 2 With thecal recess, and in these recesses are mounted latching g in OperativeDOSitiOII- drill steel guide parts, preferably semi-cylindri- Fi 4 is. aho o tal sectional view taken 5 cal bushings 3|, suitable. means such asmachine s a y 011 the line of With the cellscrews, 32 being provided tohold the bushings tralizer arms in closed position but with the inplace, Wh n th arms are pulled together latching dos withdrawn fromoperative position and held there the drill steel l8 may be rotated F 5i a f m n l l v i n l v w looking within the bushings 3i and therebyheld against in the direction of arrows 5-5 of Fig. p lateral movementin all directions.

Fi 6 is a verti a s t na v w taken sn Each of the arms 20 and 2| isbifurcated at its Stantia y O the line of 2, and free extremity beyondthe bushings 3|, the bifur- 7 is a reduced View Corresponding to 4cations of arm 20 having tapered tongues 33 cobut showing thecentralizer arms in inoperative operating with complementary flaredgrooves 34 position. formed in th bifurcations of arm 2|. By this In thedrawing I h v how at IU a carriage means when the arms are drawntogether they frame provided with ground wheels II and I2 by are soguided as, to bring the bushings 3| into means of which the carriage maybe moved from correct registry, overcoming any slight inaccuon operatingposition to another, and retractiracies which might tend to throw themout of ble prong means. 3 and I4 servi g to o d the so register, suchfor example as misalignment of carriage against accidental movementwhile the hinge pin bearings or warpage in the arms drilling operationsare being performed. On the themselves. The bifurcated portions of arm2| carriage there is mounted means, generally inhave alignedperforations to receive a pivot pin dicated at l5, for supporting invarious different 35 which may be an integral part of a dog 36 positionsof adjustment a boom IE on which are that is arranged to swing in thespace between the bifurcations of both arms. On each side thereof thedog carries, a boss 31, see Figs. 4 and 5, which is flattened on oneedge to seat beneath and frictionally engage the outer portion of abifurcation on arm 20 when the two arms are brought together. The outerend of the dog 36 may be turned outward at an angle, as indicated at 38,to better constitut a handle. A leaf spring 40 one end of which isfastened by screw 4| to the arm 2| .and the other end of which bearsupon the outer side of dog 36, tends to move the dog into operativeposition as shown in Fig. 3. When the two arms are swung together thedog is cammed outwardly by engagement of the bosses 31 with the outersides of the tapered tongues 33 until these parts clear each other,after which the spring 4*!) acts to snap the dog inwardly to clampingposition.

The removal of a drill steel for any purpose, as for example when adulled steel is to be replaced by one which has been sharpened, may beefiected very quickly as far as the centralizer is concerned. Theoperator merely grasps the outer end 38 of the dog and swings the latterclockwis from the position of Fig. 3 until the bosses 31 clear thebifurcations on the arm 20, when the two arms are free to respond totheir springs 29 for movement to the position illustrated in Fig. '7.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

l. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of pivoted arms the freeends of which are adapted to swing toward and away from each other,drill steel guiding parts mounted in said free ends, a pair of tongueand groove joints in said free ends spaced apart lengthwise of the drillsteel, and clamping means comprising a dog pivotally connected with onearm and arranged to swing between said tongue and groove joints, saiddog having lateral projections arranged to engage the other arm forsecuring the arms in operative position.

2. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of pivoted arms the freeends of which are adapted to swing toward and away from each other,drill steel guiding parts mounted in said free ends, and latching meansto hold the arms in operative position, said latching means comprising adog pivotally mounted on one arm, abutments on the dog and on the otherarm adapted to interengage when the arms are in operative position, oneof said abutments having a cam surface adapted as the arms approach eachother to swing the dog on its pivot until the abutments pass each other,whereby when the arms reach operative position the dog may be swung tolatching position.

3. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of pivoted arms the freeends of which are adapted to swing toward and away from each other,drill steel guiding parts mounted in said free ends, two tapered tongueand flared groove joints in said free ends, said joints being spacedapart lengthwise of the drill steel, and clamping means for fasteningthe arms in operative position.

4. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of pivoted arms the freeends of which are adapted to swing toward and away from each other,drill steel guiding parts mounted in said free ends, two tapered tongueand flared groove joints in said free ends, said joints being spacedapart lengthwise of the drill steel, latching means for holding the armsin operative position comprising a dog pivotally carried by one arm andarranged to swing in the space between said tongue and groov joints,said latching means being arranged to yield as the arms are caused toapproach each other and to snap into latching position when the armsreach operative position.

5. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of arms individuallypivoted to arock drill support the free ends of which are adapted toswing toward and away from each other, means for normally urging saidarms away from each other, drill steel guiding means in said free ends,a tongue and groove joint in said free ends to insure the guiding partsreaching proper registration, and clamping means for fastening the armsin operative position.

6. A drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of arms individuallypivoted to a rock drill support the free ends of which are adapted toswing toward and away each other, spring means carried by said pivotedends for normally urging said arms away from each other, drill steelguiding means in said free ends, a tongue and groove joint in said freeends to insure the guiding parts reaching proper registration, andclamping means for fastening the arms in operative position.

'7. In a rock drill having a pair of members for supporting the motorand drill steel, a drill steel centralizer comprising a pair of curvedarms, one end of each arm carrying a pinto be connected to said membersfor pivotally supporting said arms in spaced relation and the free endsof which are'adapted to swing toward and away from each other, springmeans mounted on said pins for normally urging said arms away from eachother, drill steel guiding means in said free ends, a tongue and groovejoint in said free ends to insure the guiding parts reaching properregistration and clamping means for fastening the arms in operativeposition. v

JOHN A. HOPE.

